PAPERS ON PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION 395 



eral, educational research may be said to be sold to the 

 public and to the greater majority of teachers and ad- 

 ministrators, but educational research itself is failing to 

 deliver the goods. There is being engendered a dogma- 

 tism which will exert a deadening influence upon our ef- 

 forts to study educational problems scientifically. Again 

 we may appropriately ask ourselves the question, "Is 

 educational research yielding appropriate dividends 

 upon its investment ? ' ' 



This recital of waste in educational research might be 

 greatly extended, but perhaps enough has been said to 

 demonstrate that the title of my paper represents a very 

 real question. There are those who are watching edu- 

 cational research to see what we make of it. Some day 

 they will say, "What have you given in return for the 

 generous investment which has been made in your work? 

 Exactly what have you discovered about education?" 

 They will expect an answer, not in terms of possibilities 

 but of findings which may be considered as conclusive. 

 They will not be satisfied with results that are merely 

 fragmentary. When that day comes we shall need to be 

 able to show that educational research has yielded and 

 will continue to yield adequate dividends upon the in- 

 vestment. At the present time we may point with pride 

 to certain notable achievements, and there is rapidly 

 accumulating a commanding body of scientific informa- 

 tion about education, but a few notable achievements will 

 not be accepted as sufficient evidence that the present 

 confidence and support of educational research should 

 be continued. In closing, I command to your earnest 

 consideration the question with which I started. A 

 thoughtful reading of even a small portion of the pub- 

 lished results of educational research will furnish much 

 "food for thought." 



